Sunday Letter • February 9th, 2025

Checking in post-wisdom teeth removal! Some thoughts from this week, a fave tune, and a sneak peak at upcoming posts

Welcome to this week’s

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It’s officially shedding szn 🐍

Hello from wisdom teeth removal recovery!

I underwent surgery to get all four of my third molars removed this last Thursday, and am now steady on the mend—swollen and getting lots of rest.

I spent the day with one of my good friends, Marisol, who accompanied me to the oral surgeon and played caretaker for me at home. The days leading up to my procedure, I stocked up and prepared meals for both myself and Marisol. After a quick post-extraction nap, she and I spent most of the day snacking and jibber-jabbering away as usual. I’m SO, deeply grateful for her support and sisterhood.

I’m working on a DEEP Dive (the first to release in this series!) to share with you all the preparation I did for the surgery and to nourish my body through recovery. This DEEP Dive is not only special because it’s the debut of the series, but because it’s also a Special Topic issue where I share health insights and rituals from my own lived experiences.

My Cherry Berry Mag Jello, which I will be sharing the recipe for in the DEEP Dive

DEEP Dive is a series of longer-format posts that will include issues that are both free for all and those exclusive to my paid subscribers, as I want to facilitate access to the knowledge I have to share and honor the work that I put into creating this content. As I’ve shared in previous Sunday Letter “coming soon” teasers, I have a few DEEP Dives I’m working on that cover a range of topics, from building a kitchen for holistic health, nutrition for looking and feeling good, body, face, and nail care, and eating well without breaking the bank.

I’m excited to bring you this Special Topic issue on my tips and process for a healing recovery from wisdom teeth removal surgery, which I hope can be relevant for you or anyone in your life who may be undergoing this or any other medicalized procedure in the future.

Here’s a peak at what I prepped and how recovery has been going:

I had a friend ask me recently how I have or find the time to work on my newsletter.

To be honest? Working on content for my newsletter is restorative for me.

As someone who could never see herself making TikToks or Reels (hello, self-image dysmorphia), and as someone who has loved writing as a means for communicating and expressing my ideas and creativity since I was a little girl…

My newsletter and this platform has been one of the best things EVER for me.

I look SO forward to working on the content I share here: everything from the different columns I’ve developed to account for all my passions, to the actual post themselves, to the branding I developed for it all, and even the Notes I post when I feel called to share.

So to answer her question or anyone else who would ask me—my newsletter has become my passion, my baby—and making time for it has been intuitive and automatic.

It’s become both routine and necessary: a natural outlet for my knowledge, creativity, and self-expression.

On your creative work:

If it matters to you—if your whole body, mind, and soul, need it—if you find that it is part of your calling—you will find the time and space for it in your life. Distractions and excuses should hold no weight to what feels right.

And, if the force is strong, your creative passions and calling will find YOU.

Friendly reminder to check Facebook Marketplace for all kinds of goods ‼️🚨

Last weekend, Marisol and I took a mini road trip to pick up this vintage, in-good-condition Pilates Reformer for my place! I found it on FB Marketplace, and it was a steal for $80 (and I actually only ended up paying $50 due to the carriage wheels needing a replacement—an easy change to do and still a win, regardless!)

While I still need to replace the wheels on them, I’m super excited about this investment in my personal fitness. This vintage reformer aligns perfectly with both my goals and my home vibe.

I have another exciting and pocket-friendly online vintage fitness equipment find arriving in the mail this week, which I’m excited to share about in the DEEP Dive on holistic body-care that I’m working on.

Stay tuned!

“Wish I Could” by Onra

Genre: Electronic • Style: Lo-fi Funk, Synth-Funk, Modern Boogie with New Jack Swing influences

Here’s some modern funk for you all that I love.

Onra is a Paris, France-based beatmaker whose music pulls from an eclectic blend of International sounds, jazz, funk, and soul influences. His work is reminiscent of notable and familiar beatmakers like MadLib, J Dilla, and Nujabes. His 2018 album, Nobody Has to Know, has a nostalgic feel that blasts listeners back to late ‘80s and ‘90s grooves while still keeping it fresh and modern.

Fun fact: Nobody Has to Know had a limited release of cassettes (among other limited edition format releases and merch) when it debuted in February of 2018 on Bandcamp, a platform for independent musicians and labels to sell their music directly to listeners without needing major streaming services and online music stores to play the middleman. A couple of years ago, I lucked out when a copy appeared for sale on the Discogs marketplace (where I often buy my personal most sought-after tapes) after I’d added the release to my wishlist there.

This album is already a vibe from beginning to end, and sounds even more delicious on my tape deck at home!

Purchase the track or album on Bandcamp

Unlike with streaming services and online music stores that distribute a fraction of revenue (often less than one US cent per stream) to music artists, independent labels and musicians who release their music on Bandcamp see real earnings from music and merchandise that is sold via the platform. Purchasing music and merch from the contemporary artists you love and support on Bandcamp is a great way to support independent music. The best part is that there is no difference in cost to you as the consumer. Simply purchase and download the MP3 files to sync to your devices from the iTunes/Apple Music desktop app, or even the Spotify Desktop app.

I definitely recommend creating your own Bandcamp account and seeing which of your favorite contemporary artists are already releasing their music there—and you can encourage them to release it there if they haven’t, so that you can maximize the support you already give them. ❤️

(If you forget like I do sometimes, then buy some merch and/or attend a live show!)

Did you catch my recent posts?

I shared my recipe for making your own kimchi:

and showed you all what’s in my pocketbook, which many of you enjoyed!

You can always check out and revisit any of my previous posts by heading to my archive on the web.

Coming up:

• DEEP Dive: Special Topic Issue: I share my experience from my wisdom teeth removal surgery and my tips for a nourishing recovery

• A Round UP: Some favorite vintage denim looks curated and saved from my Pinterest

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This newsletter is just as much for y’all and what you get out of what I’m sharing as it is a creative outlet for me!

I would love to hear from you. What kinds of content from me have you felt interesting, meaningful, or that you’ve resonated with?

Your direct engagement with my work—whether it’s a like, comment, or message shared directly to me—doesn’t just support my platform, but let’s me know what’s really hitting for you all. Don’t hesitate to drop me a comment or leave me a message—let’s chat!

As always, thank you for being here, and I hope you all take the time to hold gratitude for your ability to chew your food these days! 😉

Have a great week.

x

Kendyl

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